On my last visit to Tanzania, we organized a safari for a group of Travelife Magazine readers and friends. We went for the birthing of the wildebeests, which is the start of the annual Great Migration. My adventure unexpectedly included cooking lessons in Tanzania.
We arrived in Arusha, which is the international airport for arrivals for safaris in the Serengeti and trekking up Kilimanjaro. From here we made our way to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti.
A TENT SAFARI IN THE SERENGETI
In the Serengeti, we stayed in this beautiful tent camp which made me think of the old movie “Out of Africa.” This stars Robert Redford and Meryll Streep and it’s the safari experience at its most picturesque. The owners created this tented safari camp with excellent taste. It was not over the top luxury but it was comfortable, beautiful and authentic.
Everything about the camp was exquisite. In fact, the details of the tents in the camp, and the decor, left me in awe. Unfortunately the food was awful. However, this is quite understandable as the chefs probably didn’t have much experience with Western food and cooking lessons in Tanzania were very much needed.
Also, we were in the middle of nowhere in Central Serengeti with little access to ingredients or inspiration. It was flat hardscrabble land as far as the eye could see. Everything had to be trucked in and stored for weeks in the kitchen tent. There was no edible vegetation anywhere in this area.
COOKING LESSONS IN TANZANIA
The pasta was especially bad and understandably so. I can imagine that the Tanzanians who were cooking Western cuisine had never tasted the real food before. It was fine on the first day. However, after two days of awful lunches and dinners, I finally put my foot down and opted for a win-win solution.
READ ABOUT THE MOST ROMANTIC NEW HOTEL IN SPAIN
I said to the manager: “Why don’t I cook dinner for everyone tonight? And your cooks can learn how to make real spaghetti pomodoro.”
He readily agreed. So I spent the afternoon giving cooking lessons in Tanzania and my friends were all happy with dinner that night. The cooks were satisfied too, judging from the smiles all around the kitchen tent that day.
Read more stories about the most wonderful safaris in Tanzania and the best hotels in Granada in Travelife Magazine.
